STATEMENT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT M

STATEMENT OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT M. GATES
SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee:
Thank you for your continued support of our military these many years. I appreciate the
opportunity to discuss the President’s Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Budget request.
Before getting into the components of this request, I thought it useful to consider it in
light of the current strategic landscape – a landscape still being shaped by forces unleashed by
the end of the Cold War nearly two decades ago. In recent years old hatreds and conflicts have
combined with new threats and forces of instability – challenges made more dangerous and
prolific by modern technology. Among them:
• Terrorism, extremism, and violent jihadism;
• Ethnic, tribal, and sectarian conflict;
• Proliferation of dangerous weapons and materials;
• Failed and failing states;
• Nations discontented with their role in the international order; and
• Rising and resurgent powers whose future paths are uncertain.
In light of this strategic environment, we must make the choices and investments
necessary to protect the security, prosperity, and freedom of Americans for the next generation.
The investment in defense spending being presented today is $515.4 billion, or about 3.4
percent of our Gross Domestic Product. This request is a 7.5 percent increase – or $35.9 billion
– over last year’s enacted level. When accounting for inflation, this translates into a real increase
of about five and a half percent.
I also strongly support Secretary Rice's request for the international affairs funding. This
request is vital to the Department of Defense; in the current strategic landscape, we need civilian
expertise and robust engagement around the world to build goodwill, represent United States
values and commitment to our partners, complement the contributions of our military, and set the
long-term conditions for peace, prosperity, and an environment inhospitable to extremism.
Strategic Modernization – Future Combat Capabilities
The FY 2009 budget request provides $183.8 billion in strategic modernization to meet
future threats, a 4.7 percent increase over the previously enacted level. This category includes
more than $104 billon for procurement.
Joint Combat Capabilities
The base budget provides $9.2 billion for ground capabilities, including more than 5,000
Humvees and 4,000 tactical vehicles. This request provides $3.6 billion to continue development
of the Future Combat System, the Army’s major modernization program.
A total of $16.9 billion is allotted for maritime capabilities, with $14.2 billion for ship-
building, including:
• The DDG-1000, the next generation surface combatant;
• Two littoral combat ships;
• Two joint high speed vessels;
• Two logistics ships; and
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• One Virginia-class submarine.
The ships being built today must provide the capability and capacity to maintain the
Navy’s global presence and influence in the future. A fleet sized at 313 ships offers the agility
required to meet a broadening array of operations and requirements with allies around the globe.
To improve air capabilities, the budget includes $45.6 billion, a $4.9 billion increase over
last year’s enacted levels.
This includes:
• F/A 18 Hornet and E/A-18G Growler fighters;
• F-35 Joint Strike Fighters;
• F-22 Raptors
• V-22 Ospreys;
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; and
• Recapitalization of various missiles and other weapons.
The Air Force’s number one acquisition and recapitalization priority is the tanker fleet,
specifically the KC-135, which is an average of 48.5 years old. This aircraft is increasingly
expensive to maintain and less reliable to fly every day. The Air Force is proceeding with a
traditional acquisition program for the KC-X, which will be able to refuel Air Force, Navy, and
allied aircraft.
Retirement of aging aircraft is a vital component of recapitalizing our air assets. I urge
Congress to continue to authorize aircraft retirements, lifting restrictions from previous years to
help the Air Force maintain readiness and perform missions more safely.
Space
This request provides $10.7 billion to strengthen joint space-based capabilities in several
categories, including:
• Space-based infrared systems; and
• Communications, environmental, Global Positioning System, and Advanced Extremely
High Frequency satellites.
The Department’s heavy reliance on space capabilities is clear to potential adversaries,
some of whom are developing anti-satellite weapons. Protecting our assets in space is, therefore,
a high priority. In the past, the Department has been slow to address this vulnerability, but we
are ramping up to properly address this problem.
Research and Development
As changes in this century’s threat environment create strategic challenges – irregular
warfare, weapons of mass destruction, disruptive technologies – this request places greater
emphasis on basic research, which in recent years has not kept pace with other parts of the
budget.
This request for $11.5 billion will sustain ongoing science and technology research.
Within this category, the FY 2009 budget includes $1.7 billion for basic research initiatives. In
total, I have directed an increase of about $1 billion over the next five years for fundamental,
peer-reviewed basic research – a two percent increase in real annual growth.
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Missile Defense
The 2009 base budget provides $10.4 billion to continue developing, testing, and fielding
a multi-layered system to protect the U.S. and its allies from tactical and strategic ballistic
missile attack.
The Missile Defense Agency has successfully fielded elements of the ballistic missile
defense system since 2004. Today, for the first time in history, our nation has an initial missile
defense capability. In coming years, the Department seeks to grow this capability by testing
against more complex and realistic scenarios, and by negotiating with like-minded nations.
Since becoming the Secretary of Defense, I have been personally involved in on-going
discussions with Poland and the Czech Republic on hosting U.S. missile defense assets. I will
continue to press for increased cooperation with our partners.
Readiness, Operations and Support
The FY 2009 request provides $158.3 billion, a 10.4 percent increase over last year’s
enacted level, for operations and training, as well as facilities and base support. $68 billion of
the request will maintain combat readiness, focused on next-to-deploy units. The budget invests
in readiness measured in terms of tank miles driven per month, ship steaming days underway per
quarter, and flying hours per month. Additionally, this request includes:
• $33.1 billion for logistical, intelligence, and service-wide support;
• $32.6 billion for facility and base support;
• $11.8 billion for equipment maintenance to accommodate increased requirements,
expanded scopes of work for repair and refurbishment of equipment, and the transition of
systems from development to sustainment in the field;
• $10.7 billion for training, recruiting, and retention to ensure that the all-volunteer force
has the right people with the right skills; and
• $2.2 billion for sealift efforts and commissary support.
The Department will continue investing in a number of critical initiatives that will have
long-term implications for the readiness of our forces and the nation’s ability to meet future
threats.
Global Train and Equip
The global train and equip authority provides commanders a means to fill longstanding
gaps in our ability to build the capacity and capabilities of partner nations. It allows the State
and Defense Departments to act in months, rather than years, to help other countries build and
sustain capable security forces. The program focuses on places where we are not at war, but
where there are emerging threats and opportunities. It creates the opportunity to reduce stress on
U.S. forces by decreasing the likelihood that troops will be used in the future. Combatant
Commanders consider this a vital tool in the war on terror beyond Afghanistan and Iraq. It has
become a model of interagency cooperation between State and Defense – both in the field and in
Washington, D.C. Secretary Rice and I both fully support this authority. Its benefits will accrue
to our successors in future administrations. The FY 2009 base budget requests $500 million,
along with a request for $750 million in authority. I urge Congress to provide funding and
permanent authority to meet enduring requirements.
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Security and Stabilization Assistance
The FY 2009 budget invests $200 million in security and stabilization assistance along
with a corresponding request to increase the authority. This authority will allow the Department
to transfer up to $200 million to the State Department to facilitate whole-of-government
responses to stability and security missions – bringing civilian expertise to bear alongside our
military. This would give Secretary Rice additional resources to address security challenges and
defuse potential crises that might otherwise require the U.S. military to intervene.
Africa Command
This request includes $389 million, or $246 million above previously enacted funds, to
launch the new Africa Command, allowing the Department to have a more integrated approach
than the existing arrangement dividing the continent up among three different regional
commands. This new command will help:
• Strengthen U.S. security cooperation with African countries;
• Train and equip our partners;
• Improve health, education, and economic development; and
• Promote peace and stability.
Foreign Languages
The FY 2009 budget includes $586 million for the Defense Language Program, a $52.3
million increase from last year. Thus far, our approach to improving language skills is having an
impact. Proficiency in Arabic has increased 82 percent since September 2001. Although the
value of foreign languages and cultural proficiency is recognized by our Special Forces, these
capabilities are essential for all forces preparing for irregular warfare, training and advising
missions, humanitarian efforts, and security and stabilization operations.
Quality of Life
The FY 2009 request includes $149.4 billion in military pay, health care, housing, and
quality of life for service personnel and their families.
The request provides for $107.8 billion in pay and benefits an increase of 9.8 percent
over the FY 2008 enacted level. This includes a pay raise of 3.4 percent for the military. Since
2001, military pay has increased by an average of 37 percent. For example, in FY 2009, the
average enlisted E-6 (Army Staff Sergeant) will see a pay increase of $1,289. The pay of the
average O-3 (Army Captain or Navy Lieutenant) increases by $1,943 in FY 2009.
Family Housing
The budget request includes $3.2 billion that will construct new family housing, improve
existing housing, eliminate inadequate housing overseas, operate and maintain government-
owned housing, and fund the privatization of 12,324 additional homes. The Basic Allowance for
Housing increases by 5.0 percent and the Basic Allowance for Subsistence increases by 3.8
percent.
Wounded Warriors
We have a moral obligation to see that the superb life-saving care that the wounded
receive initially is matched by quality out-patient treatment. To provide world-class health care
to all who are wounded, ill, or injured serving the nation, the Department is taking action on the
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recommendations made by the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning
Wounded Warriors. To do so, we have formed a senior oversight committee – chaired by the
Deputy Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs – to examine several key areas:
• Case Management – integrate care management throughout the life of the wounded,
ill, or injured service member to ensure they receive, as the President made clear, the
“right care and benefits at the right time in the right place from the right person”;
• Disability and Compensation Systems – streamline the disability evaluation system
making it a single, supportive, and transparent process;
• DoD and VA Data Sharing – ensure appropriate information is accessible and
understandable between departments; and
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)/Psychological Health Issues – improve access and
quality of care by reducing the stigma associated with mental health care and
establishing new programs, such as a TBI registry.
The Department has already approved new standards for all facilities housing the
wounded and we have placed pay management teams at numerous sites to better educate troops
and their families about pay, entitlements, and benefits.
The budget requests $466 million to support construction of health care facilities at
Bethesda and Fort Belvoir, as well as establish a Warrior Transition Unit at Bethesda. The
transition unit will ensure the wounded receive optimum care, especially during the outpatient
convalescent phase of recovery.
Future Health Care Issues
In FY 2009, DoD military healthcare costs are projected to be $42.8 billion in order to
maintain benefits for 9.2 million eligible military members and their families, as well as retirees
– more than double the level in 2001. By 2015, the Department’s health care costs are projected
to reach $64 billion, or 11.3 percent of the budget.
Because of these concerns, the Department must also seek legislation to increase out-of-
pocket health care expenses for retirees under age 65. The Department continues to believe that
modest increases to TRICARE out-of-pocket costs for working-age military retirees are essential
to make military health benefits affordable and sustainable for current and future retired service
members.
Global Posture
The base budget requests $9.5 billion to continue U.S. Base Realignment and Closure
(BRAC) efforts. For the approved FY 2005 BRAC recommendations, the budget fully funds 24
major realignments, 25 base closures, and 765 lesser actions. The Department is continuing to
reposition U.S. forces at home and abroad in keeping with post-Cold War realities.
Consequently, several units stationed overseas will be brought home. The commander of
European Command has requested that the Army activate two heavy brigade combat teams in
Germany in 2008 and 2010 to support near-term security needs and allow time for construction
in the United States.
Increase Ground Forces
Increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps will relieve stress on the force and
enable the nation to meet its commitments at home and abroad. This growth in end strength is a
continuation of growth that began last year and is expected to continue through FY 2013.
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U.S. Army
The FY 2009 base budget provides $15.5 billion to increase Army active end strength to
532,400, which includes an increase of 7,000 over the FY 2008 request. The Army request
includes the cumulative cost of personnel added as part of a temporary increase in end strength
after September 11, 2001 – an increase which had previously been paid for in supplemental
appropriations.
The Army plans to grow its active ranks to 547,400 by FY 2012. In FY 2009, the
number of active Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) will increase by two BCTs, from 40 to
42, with a goal of 48 BCTs by 2012.
I am concerned that the percentage of new Army recruits with high school diplomas has
declined in recent years. While still above the minimum standard established by Congress, we
are watching these numbers closely, and are determined to grow the Army in a way that does not
sacrifice the quality we have come to expect in the all-volunteer force.
U.S. Marine Corps
The base budget seeks $5 billion to grow the Marine Corps’ end strength to 194,000, an
increase of 5,000 over the FY 2008 request. As with the Army, the Marine Corps’ request
includes the cumulative cost of personnel added after September 11, 2001. The Marine Corps’
plans to increase end strength to 202,000 by FY 2011, in order to achieve three balanced Marine
Expeditionary Force units and to increase time at home station between deployments. This will
enable the Corps to continue to be, as it has historically been a “two-fisted” expeditionary force
excelling at conventional warfare and counter-insurgency.
War Funding
In addition to the $515.4 billion base budget, our request includes $70 billion in emergency
bridge funding that would cover war costs into the next calendar year. A more detailed request
will be submitted later this year when the Department has a better picture of what level of
funding will be needed.
The 2007 NDAA requires the Department of Defense to provide an estimate of costs for the
Global War on Terror. We would like to be responsive to this request. The challenge facing us is
that a realistic estimate requires answers the Department does not currently have to several key
questions, such as:
• When and if the Department will receive the balance of the FY 2008 supplemental war
request, and for how much; and
• What, if any, adjustments to troop levels in Iraq will result from the upcoming
recommendations of General Petraeus.
We should also keep in mind that nearly three quarters of the FY 2009 supplemental request
will likely be spent in the next administration, thus making it even more difficult to make an
accurate projection.
In short, while I would like to be in a position to give you a realistic estimate of what the
Department will need for FY 2009 supplemental funds, I simply cannot at this point. There are
too many significant variables in play.
As I mentioned earlier, Congress has yet to appropriate the remaining balance of the FY 2008
war funding request, $102.5 billion. Delay is degrading our ability to operate and sustain the
force at home and in theater, and is making it difficult to manage this Department in a way that is
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fiscally sound. The Department of Defense is like the world’s biggest supertanker. It cannot
turn on a dime and cannot be steered like a skiff. The consequences of not receiving the balance
of this request may include:
• Retarding daily efforts in support of Iraqi and Afghan national security forces, to include
training and equipping efforts;
• Halting our ability to pay military personnel and continue operations; and
• Limiting reset of equipment lost and damaged by ongoing operations.
I urge approval of the FY 2008 GWOT request as quickly as possible.
Conclusion
At this, my second and also last opportunity to present a budget before this committee, I
thank the members of this Committee for all you have done to support our troops as well as their
families. In visits to the combat theaters, in military hospitals, and in bases and posts at home
and around the world, I continue to be amazed by their decency, resiliency, and courage.
Through the support of the Congress and our nation, these young men and women will prevail in
the current conflicts and be prepared to confront the threats that they, their children, and our
nation may face in the future.
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